Americans Weigh in on Government Performance

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 30, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALAN GRAYSON, D-FLA.: The Republican health care plan is this. Die quickly. That's right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.

I call upon all of us to do our jobs for the sake of America, for the sake of those dying people and their families.

I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Those are some of the despicable statements made by Florida Democrat Alan Grayson over the past two days. And I wonder if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is aware of those comments, because it was, you know, less than two short weeks ago that she said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: I have concerns about some of the language that is — is being used because I saw — I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening. And it gave — it created a climate in which we — violence took place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Oh, I'm sorry.

So will Nancy Pelosi condemn the remarks made by Alan Grayson, a member of her own party?

Here with more on all of this is the author of "What Americans Really Want... Really: The Truth About Our Hopes, Our Dreams, Our Fears." He is the president of the Word Doctors. Pollster Frank Luntz is with us — with us.

You always examine words. You examine them closely. Holocaust, Republicans want you not to get sick or to die fast.

FRANK LUNTZ, AUTHOR, "WHAT AMERICANS REALLY WANT... REALLY": The worst. The worst. This is bad stuff. He clearly hasn't read my new book or he wouldn't ever have said it.

HANNITY: Thank God. Don't send him a copy. Just let him keep on going right down this path.

LUNTZ: How am I going to get onto the New York Times bestseller list if he doesn't?

What I don't understand is when the public is saying clearly, "I trust medical professionals, not politicians. I want them to read the legislation before they vote on it. And I want the right to read the legislation." Why would a congressman come down and say something like that?

HANNITY: We just showed a poll: 80 — 80 plus percent of the American people are saying they want to read it. Max Baucus is saying, "We'd love to do that, but my staff can't figure out how to get it online." If you can't figure out how to get it online, how can you run it?

LUNTZ: How can you deliver health care? How you can deliver health care?

HANNITY: I'm sitting there; I want to shoot myself, which, by the way, would make the liberals happy. But in all seriousness, how?

LUNTZ: You better do it before their health-care plan passes.

HANNITY: Or no coverage?

LUNTZ: Or you're done.

HANNITY: You made your — you made your cut on the liberal blogs today.

Look, this is serious stuff. And I'm thinking what a dumb excuse by Baucus to say that, though. And what an idiotic thing, to compare this to the Holocaust?

LUNTZ: The American people want accountability in government, and they want respect. And they're not getting either. They want — they want town-hall meetings, because they so desperately want to be heard. And you know that all the Democrats are canceling their town-hall meetings.

HANNITY: Cowards.

LUNTZ: That just raises the anger.

HANNITY: That really does. And the numbers are going down. They're at the lowest number they are now. But I urge people out there don't give up the fight. Because they'll still ram it down your throat with a nuclear option.

All right. One of the things I like about your book. You do — did a ton of research for this book. All told, over what, six thousand? Seven thousand?

LUNTZ: Sixty-four hundred interviews. But I talked to over a million people by telephone, by e-mail. I've been doing this for 15 years. I've polled people in all 50 states. And it doesn't matter whether you're from Washington or Wyoming or Florida or Maine. They have the same concerns, whether you're from Mississippi or Montana.

HANNITY: Right. So let's put up on the screen some of the things — this is what the American people are telling Frank. It's in his book. Institutions that are most important for America's future is our first one. Explain this to everybody.

LUNTZ: I want them to take a look at that biggest pie right there, that slice: the schools. And yet, we can't get accountability with teachers. They're fighting testing. They're fighting accountability.

Parents want to control what their kids are taught. And they have to fight the Department of Education. The single greatest frustration that the American people have today is they think their children are going to be worse off than them.

HANNITY: Yes. That's a good discussion here.

LUNTZ: And it's because of the schools.

HANNITY: Well, also the church. You know, the federal government.

LUNTZ: Spirituality.

HANNITY: Yes.

LUNTZ: Faith. One of the things we found is that the more religious you are, the more often you pray and go to church or synagogue, the happier you are, the healthier you are, the more content, the happier you are at your job, the closer you are to your kids, and the more optimistic you are about the future.

HANNITY: That's true of my life. I agree with all of that.

Now, which of the following — throw this next one up — values are most important to the American people? Liberty. Now, you can't have liberty if the government is controlling every aspect of your life, Frank. Explain that.

LUNTZ: That one, that — it's the issue of freedom. And it's again where I don't understand why Barack Obama isn't opening up these town halls, isn't actually instructing Democrats who want to push this health care legislation. Let everyone speak. Liberty is the freedom to be heard. It's the freedom to have your opinion registered.

HANNITY: You know, if I was a congressman. And, look, I do three hours of talk radio every day. If I was a congressman, I would — I can't understand this mentality that thinks I'm afraid to go to a town hall. And I don't know if it's because these guys are — are so afraid that they're going to lose their power.

LUNTZ: They're afraid they're going to get yelled at.

HANNITY: So what? I get yelled at every day.

LUNTZ: And — here's the problem. By a lot of people.

HANNITY: By a lot of people. It's not that bad. You get used to it after a while.

LUNTZ: But here's the problem. If you don't give them a chance to yell at them now. This is what I would advise them.

HANNITY: It's a good point you're going to make.

LUNTZ: They're going to vote...

HANNITY: They're going to yell at you...

LUNTZ: ... on election day.

HANNITY: But if you absorbed it at a town hall, whatever the criticism happens to be. I've had people call my show angry. I let them vent. And at the end of the call, we usually will — will part friends.

LUNTZ: Yes, but here's the problem. If they're venting in an incorrect way, if they're not using the language of the American people, let me give you the best example. It's in a simple short word: why?

If I could control the signs of the town-hall meetings, I would hold up the word "why?" and ask my congressman why are we voting on this legislation so fast when we should get it right? Why? Who's going to pay for this? Why? Why? Why?

HANNITY: Seventy-two hours. That's not a lot to ask for the American people. And the Democrats said no. They won't put it online because they can't figure out how to get it online.

Here's — I want to keep going, though, here. As a matter of fact, I'm going to skip one and I want to go to this one, because this one really impressed me. What is the most important thing to you?

Now, I think fundamentally all the debates we have, it really comes down to this. Do we want a freedom society, or do we want a safety net society? Your poll answers this overwhelmingly.

LUNTZ: We want to reach for the stars. We want that opportunity, and we want that in our work place. We want that at home. We want that for the future.

Once again, we want to be optimistic and hopeful. And we had a president who ran on that agenda. And now the American people are more negative and more pessimistic than they've ever been.

HANNITY: Yes, but Americans still want freedom. That tells me the American people, they would rather not have a nanny state.

LUNTZ: They would rather...

HANNITY: Have opportunity.

LUNTZ: Have opportunity and control. They want to control their lives.

HANNITY: All right, let's go to the last one here. Would you rather make a lot more at your job that you hate or a lot less money at a job you love? That's a pretty profound answer?

LUNTZ: And by the way, there's one rule for this one, too, for people at home. Never utter the phrase, "It's not my job" to your boss.

HANNITY: Oh, no, no. That's bad.

LUNTZ: It's the number one way that you get yourself fired, and then it isn't your job at that point.

HANNITY: You know, the only thing I can say, and we're all trying to identify with this. Is when I first pursued media, radio where I started. Worked for a year and a half for free. I worked for little money in a state where I didn't know one person.

You know, if you really pursue what you love, I think ultimately, you find a way to make money at it.

LUNTZ: But you have to do it correctly. You have to do it effectively. It's not enough just to go to work or just to go to a town- hall meeting or just to volunteer. It's not the effort that matters. It's the effectiveness that matters.

And I wrote this book to make Americans more effective at work, at home, and in the political — in the political world.

HANNITY: All right. Frank, good to see you. Great book. Congratulations.

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